Cellebrite UFED Phone-Hacking Device Used by Federal Agencies Sold on eBay for $100

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You may have never heard of the Cellebrite UFED (Universal Forensic Extraction Device), but it’s used by the police, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, etc. on smartphones, memory cards and more. Typically, current models cost around $15,000, but cybersecurity researcher Matthew Hickey managed to pick up several UFEDs from eBay for just $100 each. He found details on what phones law enforcement officials searched, when they were accessed and the data retrieved. Read more for a video showing how it works.

“Hickey found one of the devices was used to access Samsung, LG, ZTE and Motorola phones, while he was able to use it to crack old iPhones and iPods. It seems officials are selling older UFEDs that can’t access phones running newer versions of iOS or Android. More recent models were able to access iPhones running iOS 11. UFEDs use vulnerabilities unknown to the likes of Apple or Google to access the phones. Cellebrite’s devices become outdated as the vulnerabilities are patched,” reports Engadget.